As they approached Turtle Forest nine days later, Mu Wen stepped up to stand beside him, her proper black robes showing her to be a real disciple of the Diyu Lord, or rather jut Liu Liangzhe the rogue cultivator to the rest of the world, and she looked at her hands. She had to cut her nails daily, he learned, because they grew in thick, pointed, and dark brown. They had recently trimmed her nails however, and her hands looked no different than most girls'.
"Should we hold hands?" Mu Wen asked. "I don't know what it means to be a partner or in love. What if I make a mistake?" The poor yaoguai was very nervous of ruining this mission, and she strictly referred to it as 'the mission' as well. Apparently a woman wanting Shu Zhijing was just as loathsome to the woman as it was to Shu Zhijing, which was something he didn't much mind. He was honestly glad that Mu Wen offered to help them in such a way.
"Oh, well, I guess," he said. "You're still really young, too young for marriage, though. You can just stand by me," Shu Zhijing said. Even if this weren't a farce and if Mu Wen was a boy, he wouldn't marry a fifteen year old. It wasn't considered wrong, but it was slightly improper, and Shu Zhijing personally felt that there was too much chance to make a mistake at that age, including marrying someone they might later hate. Still, it was for 'the mission.' Maybe if he took to calling it that, it would be easier to play the part. Mu Wen, despite being inhuman, seemed to have the right idea about quite a few things so far, including the fact that despite Shu Zhijing wishing to hold Xiaolin, people should see that Xiaolin is comfortable with Liu Liangzhe to sell that he rescued him four years prior.
Mu Wen hummed and stood beside Shu Zhijing instead of behind him, her little finger slowly curling with his own, but otherwise she kept to herself. She was not what Shu Zhijing would consider an attractive person. She had round cheeks and a very pointed chin, her eyes were rounder than usual and somewhat small for her face, and her hair was bright orange like a gourd with odd black streaks. It was very inhuman looking, and it was honestly a tribute to the lack of common sense people have to have ever thought she was a normal girl. Still, she was kind, and seemed very protective over Shu Xiaolin, which was a good trait. It was especially one that Shu Zhijing could appreciate more than any sort of appearance.
"You know I'm one hundred and twenty-eight," Mu Wen said to him. "I've been alive longer than your grandparents. I just wasn't always as I am now."
"Right…" Shu Zhijing said with a nod. It made sense that Mu Wen was much older than she appeared. But her appearance was nonetheless of an adolescent -- a teenager.
They approached the carved wooden archway that halted them from passing into the protected domain of the Turtle Forest. Just on the other side of the archway there were a horde of little box turtles all grouped together, just moseying down the hill and towards the underbrush of the forest. The guard observed them, and bowed at Shu Zhijing.
"Shixiong," the disciple said before he stepped aside without questioning his guests. He bowed in return and headed up the winding path onto a plateau in which their houses and temples were built to form a small village, or as it was sometimes referred to: a compound. He headed towards Kuqishu, the home of his brother first, his fists tensing at the very thought of speaking with the man. Mu Wen held his shoulder, letting go of his hand as it nearly broke her finger.
"I'm sorry," he whispered to her. She shook her head.
"I don't need your apologies, I need your assurance. You must promise not to do or say anything reckless despite your feelings," she said, and Shu Zhijing nodded, wondering just when a yaoguai had become so knowledgeable on the business of humans. She waved him inside and stood behind Liu Liangzhe who gave him a small frown but a nod towards the doors that helped instill a little confidence in him.
Shu Zhijing held the doors with hands trembling with repressed rage before he lifted a fist and gently wrapped against the door. It was pulled open by Shu Ganmao who wasn't alone. There was a woman in his room, one of the younger disciples, one of the healers. He hoped she was tying her outer robe closed purely because medical intervention had proven to be rather strenuous and not some other more illicit affair.
"Jing-er," his brother said with a forced smile. "Ah, what brings you back to Turtle Forest so quickly."
"I found him," Shu Zhijing said. "I found Xiaolin."
If Shu Zhijing had any doubts about his brother's intentions not having been from a pure place, he had just gotten confirmation. Shu Ganmao's face twisted from something like confusion to something of pure frustration. The man scowled before Shu Zhijing moved out of the way for the young lady to return to the healing side of the compound. When he turned back to his brother, he was no more calm.
"Oh." It was all his brother had to say about that, and even as Shu Zhijing waited for some elaboration, he got nothing. "Father will want to see you. He's been asking for you whenever he's lucid. It's gotten worse."
"Worse?" he asked. "But he was stable. It shouldn't have progressed so soon," he insisted, but Shu Ganmao shook his head before he settled on focusing on the curious trio in his eyeline over Shu Zhijing's shoulder. Shu Ganmao moved him aside to get a better look, closing his own robe firmly before he stepped out of the security of Kuqishu. He peered at Liu Liangzhe and Mu Wen.
"Who have you brought with you?" Shu Ganmao asked. "Besides Shu Xiaolin, I mean?"
As Shu Zhijing redirected his attention back to his new allies, he saw that Shu Xiaolin had his face buried in Liu Liangzhe's neck, avoiding his father entirely. It hurt Shu Zhijing's heart to see such a reaction. A boy should love his father, and a boy should have his father's love in return. Neither of them were supposed to suffer like this. Still, he stepped away from the house and introduced them, first with Liu Liangzhe the wandering traveller who had been raising Shu Xiaolin for the past four years, and Liu Liangzhe's student and martial daughter, Mu Wen. He forced himself to stand beside her and she made the bold move to hold her hand.
"I--" he started, only to stutter.
"We fell in love," Mu Wen said to him, a large smile on her face. "I'm so honoured to meet the shixiong of my love." She pulled her hand away from Shu Zhijing to bow properly before she returned to Liu Liangzhe's side. Her acting skills were amazing, superior to even Shu Ganmao's, who had fooled Shu Zhijing for nearly half a decade about Shu Xiaolin's circumstance.
"Ah, well, that is a surprise," Shu Ganmao said. "I can't wait for everyone to learn the good news."
"Well, let me tell father first," Shu Zhijing said, or rather pleaded as much as he could without sounding like he was truly pleading. Shu Ganmao just sort of made a gesture before he turned his sights on Liu Liangzhe.
"And Liu-sanren, we don't allow many cultivators like you into our village. I hope you understand what it means to live with a sect as large as our own," Shu Ganmao said, the threat to adapt and assimilate or else was clear. That if he didn't behave, then there would be consequences. Despite Shu Zhijing's stirring nerves, Liu Liangzhe seemed to have no such issues. The Diyu Lord stood tall and unbothered by Shu Ganmao's posturing, he stood like an immortal above men -- no. Not just an immortal. He stood like a true god. One that had never been tainted by human folly or fear.
"I am well aware of how sects are run, I just choose to avoid them when I can," Liu Liangzhe said. "I would offer for you to hold your son, but it seems he's more comfortable where he is--" Shu Ganmao's eye twitched-- "Anyway, I hope that Zhijing-wanbei could show us to where we will be staying, and perhaps to the Sect Leader, so I may pay him my respects for allowing us temporary residence."
"I can show you where you can stay," Shu Ganmao said through clenched teeth.
"You must be so busy being the heir of the Sect, we couldn't possibly bother you with our humble existence," Liu Liangzhe continued. "But if you would be so kind, then I must thank you for your time."
Shu Ganmao grumbled at them to follow him, and as Shu Zhijing followed them, his brother stopped.
"Not you, Zhijing, you go talk to father before I bring Liu-Sanren to speak to him. I expect you to be finished with your business before we arrive," Shu Ganmao said, his attention never once leaving the Diyu Lord he inspected with a curious if not somewhat malicious gaze. Having Ganmao treat him poorly before had done nothing to him. He didn't let it hurt his esteem, because he had no one he truly cared for an opinion from that wasn't already firm in their ideas of Zhijing. These people were new, however, and he wanted to make a good impression unlike he had ever wanted before. Despite his hesitancy, Shu Zhijing bowed once more and left to his father. Hopefully he would know what to say, and what to do. His father, while Zhijing couldn't be entirely honest with him, always knew how to settle the disturbances within his youngest son's soul.